Programming note: Second ‘CoderSchool’ set for Roslyn

Byte-sized smiles: TheCoderSchool, a California-based program teaching tomorrow's digital workforce the basics of computer programming, will soon open a second Long Island facility under the guiding hand of entrepreneur Noreen Kazi.

August 9, 2018

By GREGORY ZELLER //

One of the hottest franchises in the world of computer coding will soon open its second Long Island location.

TheCoderSchool, a Silicon Valley-based program focused on teaching students ages 7 to 18 both coding lingo and the critical-thinking mindset required of coders, will cut the ribbon on a new Roslyn facility Sept. 15. The second Nassau County-based school joins the company’s Syosset school, which opened its doors in 2017.

Like that Syosset facility, the new Roslyn location will be owned and operated by Noreen Kazi, a Stony Brook University physical therapy student turned full-time mom turned entrepreneur who opened the first Long Island location – among TheCoderSchool’s first East Coast operations – last October.

Noting TheCoderSchool’s “unique concept” – essentially, imparting coding skills upon a next-generation workforce that will sorely need them – Kazi said she’s “thrilled to build on the success of our school in Syosset.”

“Learning how to program computers is an incredibly valuable skill that’s demand is … increasing exponentially in every industry across the board,” Kazi added.

With the opening in Roslyn, TheCoderSchool will operate 25 locations across the country, including 12 in its home state of California. New York will join the Golden State, Texas (three locations) and North Carolina (two locations) as the only states with multiple franchises.

Noreen Kazi: Twice is nice.

At each school, trained “code coaches” work closely with students – ideally, in a two-student, one-coach scenario – on a variety of customized platforms that teach several coding languages, including HTML, CSS, Python and Javascript.

Joining Kazi at her second Nassau County facility is filmmaker Sana Qazi, who earned praise as the writer and director of the 2014 independent short film “The Big House” and also boasts considerable strategic marketing and mentoring experience.

“As someone who deals with the moviemaking magic firsthand, I am someone that can attest to the importance of technological development, specifically coding,” noted Qazi, who will serve as the new school’s general manager. “Whether it’s an app or animation, I can’t wait to see what these kids come up with next.”

Also along for the Roslyn ride is Harvard Business School graduate Nisha Bhalla, Kazi’s sister and a senior advisor at the Syosset facility, a role she will replicate at the new school.

“Coding is proving to become such an important and basic skill to have in our growing technological world,” Bhalla told Innovate LI. “We think it’s so important that we learn and teach our kids these important skills – not only to survive, but thrive in their respective fields as the innovators and leaders of tomorrow.”

It was Bhalla who actually brought her sister into the franchiser’s fold. A tech-startup veteran who has served in administrative roles at CVS Health, New York Presbyterian Hospital and the defunct investment bank Lehman Brothers, Bhalla received a hot tip from a professional colleague she’d met years earlier during a Harvard internship: The expanding CoderSchool was hot to trot on the East Coast, an opportunity that sounded just right to the entrepreneurially minded Kazi.

Flash forward two years, and Kazi has proven to be a worthy franchisee, according to TheCoderSchool founder Hansel Lynn, who said he’s “confident that TheCoderSchool Roslyn will thrive” under the Long Island entrepreneur’s leadership.

“We are always looking for franchisees whose primary goal is to set kids up with a positive, lifelong relationship with tech and coding,” Lynn said in a statement “This is why we couldn’t be more excited about continuing this partnership.

“Noreen has proven to be a hardworking individual with whom we share the same values,” the founder added. “She plays an instrumental role in further establishing our brand in the local marketplace.”